Katya Yindra
In January, Kendis Paul and his company KEP Construction LLC were indicted by the Manhattan District Attorney for stealing $67,000 in wages from his employees between September 2023 and February 2024. Paul and KEP Construction LLC face charges of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree and Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree.
The 10 workers who brought this case forward reported that they received paychecks that bounced, were denied overtime pay, or were not paid at all. One worker alerted Paul that the checks were bouncing, messaging him, “The bank charges me for each check without funds. It’s not fair that I have to pay. It’s been five weeks since [receiving pay].”
Other workers repeatedly sent Paul messages telling him they haven’t been able to buy food or pay their rent. Meanwhile, Paul received $1.3 million from the general contractor.
“These cases come down to greed,” DA Alvin Bragg alleged. “They are preying on those who they don’t think will come forward.”
However, the DA’s assessment individualizes a systemic problem. Bosses routinely steal wages to maximize profits, particularly in poorly regulated industries and among more oppressed and exploited workers. While all workers are exploited under capitalism, wage theft intensifies exploitation by paying even less than what is promised. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that wage theft costs workers billions annually, exceeding all other forms of criminal theft combined. An estimated one in five workers experiences wage theft or is misclassified as an independent contractor, stripping them of basic protections. Immigrant and non-English-speaking workers, like those in this case, are often the hardest hit.
These workers turned collectively to the government bureaucracies to fight this wage theft. One worker texted Paul, “If you don’t pay us this week we are all meeting to file a complaint with the labor department. We don’t want to hurt anyone, we just need our money.” But the legal system offers little more than a pittance—slow, inconsistent enforcement. According to the Department of Labor, most wage theft cases go unreported, and even when pursued, penalties are rare.
Between 2017 and 2020, over $3 billion in stolen wages was recovered by the DOL and other institutions, yet this represents only a fraction of the total. In just 10 of the most populous U.S. states, 2.4 million workers lose $8 billion annually due to minimum wage violations, with the national figure estimated at $15 billion. For many, stolen wages amount to nearly a quarter of their annual earnings. Yet enforcement remains weak, and most workers never file claims out of fear of retaliation. Few bosses face real consequences, let alone jail time.
Photo: Text messages from a worker to the construction boss Kendis Paul documented by Manhattan DA Bragg. Retrieved from manhattanda.org.
The Worker is an entirely volunteer-run revolutionary newspaper free from and radically antagonistic to corporate influence. We rely on the support of our readers to sustain our editorial line in service of the working class and the reconstitution of its party, the Communist Party. Make a one-time or recurring donation to our newspaper today:
Make a one-time donation
Make a monthly donation
Choose an amount
Or enter a custom amount
Your contribution is appreciated.
Your contribution is appreciated.
